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Did Arsene Wenger turn down England job offer?

Sam Allardyce may be about to officially named as England’s new manager, but only after Arsene Wenger turned it down.

That’s according to a report in the Daily Telegraph, which claims that Allardyce was only the Football Association’s second choice, with Wenger offered the job beforehand.

‘Wenger was the first man approached by the FA with promise that the England job was his if he wanted it, but the Frenchman was not prepared to break the final year of his Arsenal contract,’ the story by Matt Law reads.

‘It is unclear whether or not the FA were prepared to wait 12 months for Wenger, but the 66-year-old’s reluctance to commit forced Ashworth, Glenn and Gill to look elsewhere and interview Allardyce, Steve Bruce and other candidates.’

With Wenger ruling himself out of the running prior to the interview stage, that left Allardyce as the clear favourite. The Sunderland manager interviewed last week, with Steve Bruce also seen on Monday.

After that, the Football Association made their decision over which of the two was the tallest dwarf, with Allardyce winning out.

Given that Wenger would have had to take a pay cut to join England for added scrutiny, his rejection of the offer is hardly a surprise. And what more natural step than from Arsene Wenger to Sam Allardyce?